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Welcome back to Live It Out a podcast.

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We are in a new series called Christmas

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Presents,

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and this is week one. Hey, Tim. How

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are you? I'm good, Dave. How are you

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doing? I'm good. And this week, we have

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somebody with us, and I wanna give you

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guys a clue of who we have. Here's

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the clue. Oh, brah. It's just like, dude,

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you got the best barrels ever, dude. Just

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like you pull in, and you just get

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spit right out of them. You just drop

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in and just smack the lip. Go back.

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Drop the excess soap.

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Alright. And that should be enough. That should

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be enough. Dave Nichols. Dave Nichols. Yeah. What

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Nichols. All the way from

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Welcome. He's Cinco.

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Yeah. Formerly of Southern California. Formerly. Yeah. That's

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good. You're surfing. Days. Or a time ago.

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Yeah. At this point. Did you were you

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you weren't a surfer, were you?

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Not really. Okay. He's a baseball player. Yeah.

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Body surfed. Okay. Probably more than anything. Yeah.

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Catch the layup. Some people call it boogie

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boarding. Yeah. But if you're in the biz,

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you call it body boarding.

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Bodyboarding? Yeah. You don't wanna call it boogie

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boarding. People from The Netherlands call it boogie

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boarding. Yeah. Yeah. Like little kids. When they're

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on vacation. But when you get into it

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Yeah. It's body boarding. Dude, I'm smarter today

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because of that. You're welcome. Find out like

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you really are. You really are from Tennessee

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now because the story you told this weekend,

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you have a

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a UT dog.

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So that makes you officially a a Tennessean.

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You know what? And I just I just

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read this morning, so I have a blue

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tic hound. And I just read Smokey eleven,

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the current one. He was nervous. Yeah. He

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couldn't handle it. Really? Yeah. So I'm like,

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does that mean there's a spot open? You've

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got a chance. I looked at Roscoe, and

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I said, Roscoe,

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it's your shot, buddy.

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Yeah. It was his brother was the previous

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version,

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and then they had him, and he just

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couldn't adapt. Yeah. Really? Yeah. They said his

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temperament is too reserved,

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and so running out in front of a

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100,000 people probably is a different was too

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loud. Uh-huh. He couldn't handle it. Yep. That's

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crazy.

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Alright. Hey. So we're getting in. We just

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wanna embrace the idea that this is

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it sounds our podcast is, like lunch with

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with the fellas, but not really. Really, the

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the goal of the podcast is, hey, what's

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it look like for us to put this

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stuff into motion? And so this weekend,

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hey, we're starting this weekend, we kicked off.

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It's the march to Christmas. And so I

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wanna start with just a a very personal

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question.

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Are you a Christmas person? Are you a

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Christmas guy?

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Dave?

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Are are you a Christmas guy? I am.

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Alright. Yeah. So so what does that mean

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for you?

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For me, it's like I've always loved it.

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And I think

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too often, especially when I was little, I

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had too high of expectations.

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Mhmm. You know? Mhmm. Like, oh, man. I'm

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gonna

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I'm gonna get all this stuff. And it's

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like, yeah.

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I got some and it was cool. But

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one year,

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we got a computer.

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Yeah. A March.

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Uh-huh. And Mhmm. I was so disappointed. Oh.

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Because I was, like, 10. Mhmm. Uh-huh. And

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I wanted, like, fun things. I didn't wanna

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sit and play Oregon Trail. Yeah. It was

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like, then it was like,

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Oregon Trail. Word processor.

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Yeah. I had the I learned to type

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on Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Nice. Do you

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remember that? Maybe not. I No. I learned

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You probably learned how to type I learned

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on a typewriter.

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Yeah. I've read about those. I tell you

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what, it was

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yeah. Yeah. We're about I'm ten years older

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than you are. But,

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yeah, to type in class at the time,

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it was like, this is so silly. Why?

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Why? We're never gonna need this. I'm telling

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you, man. The best

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skill I ever learned was actually tight. Sometimes

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I'm amazed myself.

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I'm like,

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this is kind of amazing. My fingers just

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know where to go on this team. Know

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what to do. Yeah. It's a s d

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f g h a k l, semicolon. That

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was a big thing to learn. Yeah.

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So, Tim, how about you? Are you a

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Christmas person? Listen, Christmas guys fall a spectrum.

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Yeah. They they are. But but you're from

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a long line of preacher people. You should

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really be a Christmas person. That should make

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me a new stereotype. That should make me

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a Christmas person.

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Or it could go or it could go

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the complete opposite. Yeah. We don't know. Facts.

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Yeah.

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I maybe I'm less of one than I

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was when I was a kid. I feel

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like I was so I when I was

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a kid, I was so into Christmas traditions,

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and everything needed to be the same every

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year.

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And then by the time, you know, I

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was the youngest, my brothers moved away, and

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then I did. And so it kinda I

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was like, well, the traditions are all dead.

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But we've built new ones as a family.

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And so I would say I'm a Christmas

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guy. I'll I mean

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but I am not it's because I'm a

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Christmas guy that I don't decorate early. I

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don't start listening to Christmas music early because

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you gotta savor the flavor. You gotta

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have it

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set aside

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for

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the Christmas season.

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When does that begin?

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For me,

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I mean, it's acceptable anytime after Thanksgiving. Alright.

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Fair enough. But I really like to get

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to December 1. Fair enough. Yeah. Then we're

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in. Yeah. We're we're we're we're marching towards

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it. Yeah.

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So,

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yeah. Me, not not so much. I probably

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shared that on here before. I'm I'm I'm

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not a Christmas guy,

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and I feel like my my kids maybe

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they get gypped a little bit because of

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it. I feel like my family gets gypped

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a little bit because of it. Now now

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I'm not saying that, like, I'm not like,

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they don't get me wrong. They've never, like,

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not had They've never lacked. They've never lacked.

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There's no doubt about that. But, however,

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I'm just yeah. I and I probably need

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counseling because of it for there's probably something

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deep seated there. Or your kids do. Exactly

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too. Or both. I've already I've said this

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probably too. Like, they both do six sessions

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for my parenting faux pas.

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But in the midst of all that, I

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I don't know. You know? Maybe it's because

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I got I I I think it was

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last year I told the story about getting

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peanuts one year, and maybe it's because I

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got peanuts. I kinda like, let me scarred.

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Maybe Christmas wasn't so fun anymore. Yeah. No.

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But maybe Like Charlie Brown on Halloween. I

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gotta rock. It's not because my parents didn't

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do a great job. Yeah. My parents did

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a great job. I mean, there was, like

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yeah. Anyway,

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they they and it's not like they they

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didn't go over the top with it, but

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they didn't. Yeah. I mean, I I don't

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care any any wounds for my parents specifically,

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so I wonder what that's all about. You

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just said you needed counseling. So there's some

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wound in there somewhere. No. That's what I'm

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saying, but it's not for my parents. It

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doesn't know where it's from. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

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Fair enough. I don't know. All I have

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to say, hey, we're talking this year, this

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this series is about the true gift, which

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is God with us. That's that's the gift

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of Christmas.

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And, that's that's our theme. And we're gonna

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be going through some Old Testament text, some

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new testament text. And this past weekend,

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Dave, you had us in Exodus, and we're

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talking about how Jesus' presence is the ultimate

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gift that guides us and gives us rest.

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So,

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as you think about God's presence, at what

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point in your life did you did you

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start to pivot and go, woah, this isn't

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really about the rules.

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This is about me living from a place

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of being present with Jesus himself.

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Or have you? I know when. I think

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I've talked about it before. I read a

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book when I was just out of college,

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and that's

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when I went for it wasn't that

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I thought it was only about following rules,

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but I thought the rules were kind of

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what mattered. I don't like like,

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I didn't think I could earn God's love

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by following the rules, but I didn't know

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how else I could interact with God than

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follow rules.

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Like what other

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relationship can we have? You make rules.

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I try to follow them and fail at

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it. That's the nature of our relationship. That's

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that was the that was the, I think,

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the total for me,

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up to that point. And so then,

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yeah, it was a big moment to go,

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wait a second. Relationship means relationship,

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and God is here, and he's not going

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anywhere.

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So you can actually

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have a relationship because he's present, you know.

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So that was a, I mean, that was,

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in some ways, the turning point in my

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relationship with Jesus.

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I think that is probably pretty common in

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the story of following Jesus. Yeah. Where it's

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like, how do I relate to this God

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that I can't see?

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So rules are right there. And so we

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don't

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we don't drink. We don't smoke. We don't

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go with girls who do, you know, kinda

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thing. And so then I either do it

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or don't.

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And I know this is not a great

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analogy, but I think parenting actually changed some

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of my perspective.

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And,

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even when my kids disobey my rules, the

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relationship doesn't stop. Yeah. That's a good question.

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Where yeah. Yeah. But I mean, it's it's

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it was one of those things where it's

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like,

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yeah.

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Just because they didn't my kids didn't do

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what I wanted them to do or whatever,

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I'm

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I don't stop loving them. I don't stop

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relationship. And I think that was when,

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you know, in that journey, that was another

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kinda turning point of going, oh,

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00:09:35,644 --> 00:09:38,205
yeah, God. Just because I didn't obey a

264
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rule or I messed up or I

265
00:09:41,085 --> 00:09:44,065
it doesn't break relationship. Uh-huh. Yeah. So

266
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Yeah.

267
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I I think for me, like,

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I think you said, David, I think it's

269
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it's common for a lot of experiences. And

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for me, it was there was this movement,

271
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and I hear people talking about a personal

272
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relationship with Jesus. And then I'm like, okay,

273
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Jesus is a real person. And so what's

274
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that look like for me to interact with

275
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him?

276
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But if I think about, like like, some

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specific moments and I don't have

278
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I do not have a great memory around

279
00:10:09,294 --> 00:10:10,495
a lot of things. In fact, my wife

280
00:10:10,495 --> 00:10:12,174
will often be like, hey, you remember this

281
00:10:12,174 --> 00:10:14,095
or hey, you remember that? I'm like, I

282
00:10:14,334 --> 00:10:16,574
no, I don't. Or Todd Michelson, we were

283
00:10:16,574 --> 00:10:18,970
on staff before the church before Two Rivers.

284
00:10:18,970 --> 00:10:20,970
Mhmm. You know, so it's, like, fifteen, sixteen

285
00:10:20,970 --> 00:10:22,490
years ago. And he's like, hey. Do you

286
00:10:22,490 --> 00:10:24,730
remember when you and at that point, he

287
00:10:24,730 --> 00:10:27,389
could make up anything because I remember nothing.

288
00:10:27,450 --> 00:10:29,789
I have no idea what he's talking about.

289
00:10:29,929 --> 00:10:31,769
I'm like, I don't remember that at all.

290
00:10:31,769 --> 00:10:33,954
How do you? But but there's a couple

291
00:10:34,014 --> 00:10:37,154
moments where I remember. I was actually already

292
00:10:37,454 --> 00:10:39,315
I was pastoring a church in Texas,

293
00:10:39,695 --> 00:10:41,454
and there's a couple things in that that

294
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stand out. There's a lot of horrifying moments

295
00:10:43,214 --> 00:10:44,034
in that and,

296
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because god is gracious, I still get to

297
00:10:46,495 --> 00:10:48,269
do this for a living, and and I

298
00:10:48,269 --> 00:10:49,809
just I messed up a lot.

299
00:10:50,190 --> 00:10:51,250
All that to say,

300
00:10:52,429 --> 00:10:54,350
there was a couple times there's a couple

301
00:10:54,350 --> 00:10:56,589
times that stand out where it was things

302
00:10:56,589 --> 00:10:59,169
that seemed people would think were totally insignificant.

303
00:10:59,389 --> 00:11:01,549
But in that moment, God reminded me just

304
00:11:01,549 --> 00:11:03,305
how how really was. And I think I've

305
00:11:03,305 --> 00:11:05,384
told one of them before about being underneath

306
00:11:05,384 --> 00:11:07,325
the sink in the in the parsonage,

307
00:11:08,425 --> 00:11:10,264
of this church and, you know, trying to

308
00:11:10,264 --> 00:11:12,425
fix the sink and, not having to call

309
00:11:12,425 --> 00:11:14,425
the the church maintenance guy to do it

310
00:11:14,425 --> 00:11:16,529
and and being like, god, you could you

311
00:11:16,529 --> 00:11:18,850
could back that nut right off of that

312
00:11:18,850 --> 00:11:20,370
thing if you wanted to because the tool

313
00:11:20,370 --> 00:11:21,889
didn't fit up there right. It was really

314
00:11:21,889 --> 00:11:22,549
tight space,

315
00:11:22,929 --> 00:11:24,449
and I couldn't get it. I couldn't get

316
00:11:24,449 --> 00:11:25,730
it. I couldn't get it. And I was

317
00:11:25,730 --> 00:11:27,829
so just frustrated and

318
00:11:28,209 --> 00:11:30,769
and, frustrated probably to the point of almost

319
00:11:30,769 --> 00:11:32,975
tears. Like, just you've got to be kidding

320
00:11:32,975 --> 00:11:34,495
me. How can I not figure this out?

321
00:11:34,495 --> 00:11:35,975
And I and I literally paused and I

322
00:11:35,975 --> 00:11:37,294
was like, I could even pray about this.

323
00:11:37,294 --> 00:11:38,815
It seems like such a stupid thing to

324
00:11:38,815 --> 00:11:41,394
pray about in in my mind and logically.

325
00:11:41,695 --> 00:11:43,855
And it was like, okay. God, you could

326
00:11:43,855 --> 00:11:45,934
literally back that thing off if you wanted

327
00:11:45,934 --> 00:11:46,289
to.

328
00:11:46,850 --> 00:11:47,350
And,

329
00:11:48,769 --> 00:11:50,549
I went back and the thing was loose.

330
00:11:51,009 --> 00:11:52,850
And it was crazy. And then there was

331
00:11:52,850 --> 00:11:55,409
another time I had lost my wallet and

332
00:11:55,409 --> 00:11:56,149
I was praying.

333
00:11:56,929 --> 00:11:57,329
And,

334
00:11:57,889 --> 00:11:59,089
I don't know. I just felt like I

335
00:11:59,089 --> 00:12:01,095
was supposed to go in the yard. And

336
00:12:01,095 --> 00:12:03,495
I literally walk into my yard. Why was

337
00:12:03,495 --> 00:12:05,174
my wallet in my I still don't know

338
00:12:05,174 --> 00:12:06,615
to this day why the wallet was in

339
00:12:06,615 --> 00:12:08,454
the yard. But I literally walk into the

340
00:12:08,454 --> 00:12:10,054
yard and I looked down and there it

341
00:12:10,054 --> 00:12:11,254
is. And I pick it up. And I

342
00:12:11,254 --> 00:12:12,235
was like, okay.

343
00:12:12,615 --> 00:12:15,095
So surely, if you care about these little

344
00:12:15,095 --> 00:12:17,230
things and letting you know you're real, that

345
00:12:17,230 --> 00:12:18,910
there's other things along the way. And so

346
00:12:18,910 --> 00:12:20,910
I I think that's one of the reasons

347
00:12:20,910 --> 00:12:23,230
why I'm I'm really glad to be a

348
00:12:23,230 --> 00:12:24,990
part of a church like Two Rivers. It's

349
00:12:24,990 --> 00:12:27,389
because it's not just the Bible says Jesus

350
00:12:27,389 --> 00:12:29,170
is real. We also go towards

351
00:12:29,605 --> 00:12:31,764
the experience that Jesus is real. And I

352
00:12:31,764 --> 00:12:34,024
think this Christmas, really what we're encouraging

353
00:12:34,565 --> 00:12:36,325
families to do and through the Live It

354
00:12:36,325 --> 00:12:38,404
Out guide is to be present with one

355
00:12:38,404 --> 00:12:38,904
another

356
00:12:39,445 --> 00:12:42,240
and to experiment with things and prove that

357
00:12:42,399 --> 00:12:43,679
that God is real. So, Tim, talk a

358
00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,519
little bit about our structure this week in

359
00:12:45,519 --> 00:12:46,019
that

360
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,879
it's always intended that it should be something

361
00:12:48,879 --> 00:12:49,860
that you could

362
00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,039
adapt and use in conversation with other followers

363
00:12:53,039 --> 00:12:54,100
of Christ or

364
00:12:54,674 --> 00:12:55,174
even

365
00:12:55,554 --> 00:12:58,195
with, your kids. Yeah. But we've tried to

366
00:12:58,195 --> 00:12:59,414
make this Christmas

367
00:12:59,955 --> 00:13:02,934
especially that way. Yeah. So yeah. So,

368
00:13:03,875 --> 00:13:05,394
we do always try and have it. You

369
00:13:05,394 --> 00:13:07,554
know, certainly that a high schooler could pick

370
00:13:07,554 --> 00:13:09,449
up Live It Out and and work through

371
00:13:09,449 --> 00:13:10,350
it. And,

372
00:13:11,209 --> 00:13:12,809
and then you could have you could talk

373
00:13:12,809 --> 00:13:14,589
about some of those things as a family.

374
00:13:14,970 --> 00:13:15,470
And,

375
00:13:16,009 --> 00:13:17,929
in this series, we're just trying to be

376
00:13:17,929 --> 00:13:20,730
really deliberate about saying, okay. Middle schoolers, high

377
00:13:20,730 --> 00:13:22,889
schoolers, we wanna write questions that are con

378
00:13:23,049 --> 00:13:24,644
you know, concrete enough and

379
00:13:26,565 --> 00:13:29,365
clear enough, I guess, that, a a middle

380
00:13:29,365 --> 00:13:31,684
schooler could could pick this up and do

381
00:13:31,684 --> 00:13:32,965
and do it. And so we hope that

382
00:13:32,965 --> 00:13:34,644
they will. And maybe for some, it'll start

383
00:13:34,644 --> 00:13:36,965
a new habit. And, so I'm interested in

384
00:13:36,965 --> 00:13:38,820
what in how that works for people. So

385
00:13:38,820 --> 00:13:40,759
they might notice a change in the questions

386
00:13:41,139 --> 00:13:42,820
during this series that they might feel a

387
00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:44,340
little more, you know, just a little more

388
00:13:44,340 --> 00:13:44,840
concrete.

389
00:13:45,540 --> 00:13:46,980
But that might be good for everybody, not

390
00:13:46,980 --> 00:13:48,660
just for the middle schoolers and high schoolers

391
00:13:48,660 --> 00:13:50,040
in our church. And then,

392
00:13:52,014 --> 00:13:53,375
and and and, again, just to be clear,

393
00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:55,215
the reason for that is not so that

394
00:13:55,215 --> 00:13:57,294
a family would sit down and go, let's

395
00:13:57,294 --> 00:13:59,054
do Live It Out together. Yeah. Let's do

396
00:13:59,054 --> 00:14:01,535
devotions. Right. Yeah. It's not written as a

397
00:14:01,535 --> 00:14:02,514
family devotional,

398
00:14:03,535 --> 00:14:04,674
but it's a

399
00:14:05,590 --> 00:14:08,710
it's a discipleship guide for individuals with the

400
00:14:08,710 --> 00:14:10,250
idea that the reason

401
00:14:10,629 --> 00:14:12,389
a whole family would do it or a

402
00:14:12,389 --> 00:14:14,789
whole church does it is so that we're

403
00:14:14,789 --> 00:14:15,289
all

404
00:14:16,710 --> 00:14:18,710
we're all kinda in the same swimming in

405
00:14:18,710 --> 00:14:19,610
the same water

406
00:14:20,955 --> 00:14:22,014
in our time,

407
00:14:22,795 --> 00:14:23,035
with

408
00:14:24,235 --> 00:14:25,835
in the word with God. And so then

409
00:14:25,835 --> 00:14:27,595
we can have some conversations about that. So

410
00:14:27,595 --> 00:14:29,375
that's my hope is that families would,

411
00:14:30,075 --> 00:14:32,075
and friends and roommates would go, hey. You

412
00:14:32,075 --> 00:14:33,995
know, I I read this. I was thinking

413
00:14:33,995 --> 00:14:35,549
about this because of Live It Out, and

414
00:14:35,709 --> 00:14:36,750
to even be able to do that with

415
00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:38,830
your kids. And then over the next not

416
00:14:39,149 --> 00:14:40,350
it's not in this week, but in the

417
00:14:40,350 --> 00:14:42,589
next three weeks, the three weeks leading up

418
00:14:42,589 --> 00:14:43,169
to Christmas,

419
00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:44,529
we'll have some,

420
00:14:46,029 --> 00:14:48,909
some tangible little act each week, one kind

421
00:14:48,909 --> 00:14:51,365
of activity that a family or group of

422
00:14:51,365 --> 00:14:53,684
friends can do to kinda be present in

423
00:14:53,684 --> 00:14:54,504
their community,

424
00:14:55,524 --> 00:14:58,745
as we move towards Christmas. That's awesome. Alright.

425
00:14:59,125 --> 00:15:01,304
So this weekend, we were in Exodus.

426
00:15:02,165 --> 00:15:03,544
We were looking at

427
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,160
the significance of God's presence going with the

428
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:08,940
children of Israel, in particular.

429
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:09,740
And,

430
00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,960
we talked about this idea that, God has

431
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,059
always wanted to dwell with his people. That's

432
00:15:16,279 --> 00:15:17,899
kind of the point of

433
00:15:18,274 --> 00:15:20,535
the story in general. And so,

434
00:15:21,475 --> 00:15:24,355
as as we get started, actually, it only

435
00:15:24,355 --> 00:15:26,195
it only took us fifteen minutes in this

436
00:15:26,195 --> 00:15:28,215
podcast to actually talk about the text.

437
00:15:28,595 --> 00:15:29,394
So in that,

438
00:15:29,795 --> 00:15:31,480
David, is there anything you're like, hey, these

439
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:32,839
are some of the things that this weekend,

440
00:15:32,839 --> 00:15:35,000
I didn't really get a chance to to

441
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,759
go as far. I mean, there's only so

442
00:15:36,759 --> 00:15:38,699
far you can go in thirty five minutes

443
00:15:38,759 --> 00:15:41,079
with a with a text that that is

444
00:15:41,079 --> 00:15:44,539
pretty significant and Yeah. In size, anyway. Yeah.

445
00:15:45,445 --> 00:15:48,485
Significant in size. How do you yeah. Is

446
00:15:48,485 --> 00:15:50,004
there anything that you're like, okay. Here here

447
00:15:50,004 --> 00:15:51,445
are a couple things, man. I didn't get

448
00:15:51,445 --> 00:15:53,044
to to go as far as I wanted

449
00:15:53,044 --> 00:15:54,644
to, or I I didn't even really maybe

450
00:15:54,644 --> 00:15:55,464
get to touch.

451
00:15:56,325 --> 00:15:58,529
Yeah. I mean, there's there's a lot in

452
00:15:58,529 --> 00:16:00,690
this passage, especially when you look at the

453
00:16:00,690 --> 00:16:02,450
context of the passage and you think about

454
00:16:02,450 --> 00:16:04,230
the book of Exodus as a whole.

455
00:16:05,410 --> 00:16:07,110
So there's a lot that you can't,

456
00:16:08,610 --> 00:16:09,830
that built up

457
00:16:10,375 --> 00:16:11,815
to get to the point of where we're

458
00:16:11,815 --> 00:16:13,654
at. Yeah. You know what I mean? Right.

459
00:16:13,654 --> 00:16:15,894
And so, we can't go into all of

460
00:16:15,894 --> 00:16:17,195
that, but,

461
00:16:17,495 --> 00:16:19,274
I mean, you can look at the transformation

462
00:16:19,495 --> 00:16:20,955
of Moses through,

463
00:16:21,575 --> 00:16:22,634
the book of Exodus,

464
00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:25,299
and which is pretty incredible, and we'll hit

465
00:16:25,299 --> 00:16:27,379
on that just a little bit. But to

466
00:16:27,379 --> 00:16:28,839
go from Exodus three,

467
00:16:29,299 --> 00:16:32,500
where God is promising his presence over and

468
00:16:32,500 --> 00:16:35,399
over and over again, and Moses goes,

469
00:16:35,860 --> 00:16:36,839
not good enough.

470
00:16:37,884 --> 00:16:40,125
And God's like, well, alright, I'll send Aaron.

471
00:16:40,125 --> 00:16:41,904
And he's like, okay, I'll go.

472
00:16:42,764 --> 00:16:45,004
To a point where we are in Exodus

473
00:16:45,004 --> 00:16:46,144
33 where

474
00:16:46,524 --> 00:16:49,740
Moses refuses to go if God doesn't go.

475
00:16:50,059 --> 00:16:51,200
So his presence

476
00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:53,200
God didn't change.

477
00:16:54,539 --> 00:16:56,620
It was Moses' heart that changed as he

478
00:16:56,620 --> 00:16:59,339
spent time with him. But and even even

479
00:16:59,339 --> 00:17:02,080
being reminded as just looking at

480
00:17:02,459 --> 00:17:05,315
Christmas season and looking at the scripture as

481
00:17:05,315 --> 00:17:05,894
a whole.

482
00:17:06,674 --> 00:17:08,615
I mean, just a reminder that

483
00:17:09,474 --> 00:17:12,035
the overarching story of the Bible seems to

484
00:17:12,035 --> 00:17:13,894
be God dwelling with his people.

485
00:17:14,275 --> 00:17:16,595
Like, that's his pursuit. That's what he does.

486
00:17:16,595 --> 00:17:18,375
He he dwells with them in Eden.

487
00:17:18,859 --> 00:17:20,480
That relationship's broken.

488
00:17:21,100 --> 00:17:23,359
And after that, it is the reuniting

489
00:17:24,619 --> 00:17:26,640
of heaven and earth. It's a reuniting

490
00:17:26,940 --> 00:17:29,180
of an Eden place where God dwells with

491
00:17:29,180 --> 00:17:31,039
his people. And you just see it

492
00:17:32,005 --> 00:17:34,984
run through the story line of scripture from

493
00:17:35,605 --> 00:17:36,345
a tabernacle

494
00:17:36,644 --> 00:17:38,984
that we see starting to dwell in

495
00:17:39,684 --> 00:17:42,244
in Exodus where God is going on moving

496
00:17:42,244 --> 00:17:43,444
in. And,

497
00:17:44,325 --> 00:17:46,265
then they get to the promised land and

498
00:17:46,429 --> 00:17:48,509
gets more of a permanent home that Solomon

499
00:17:48,509 --> 00:17:49,490
builds for them.

500
00:17:50,349 --> 00:17:51,809
Then we have Jesus, Emmanuel,

501
00:17:54,109 --> 00:17:56,210
God physically dwelling with his people.

502
00:17:56,829 --> 00:17:58,429
Then we get to the book of John

503
00:17:58,429 --> 00:18:01,684
and Jesus starts telling his disciples, like, hey,

504
00:18:01,684 --> 00:18:03,605
it's better that I leave. Because if I

505
00:18:03,605 --> 00:18:05,445
leave, I'm gonna send my helper. My Holy

506
00:18:05,445 --> 00:18:07,545
Spirit's gonna be with you. So

507
00:18:08,085 --> 00:18:11,144
he still remains with us and Jesus promises,

508
00:18:11,285 --> 00:18:12,985
I'm I'm coming back and

509
00:18:13,909 --> 00:18:15,769
I'm gonna be with you. And so

510
00:18:16,069 --> 00:18:17,529
this presence is

511
00:18:19,190 --> 00:18:21,029
in some ways, you could you could make

512
00:18:21,029 --> 00:18:23,109
a good argument that that's the story of

513
00:18:23,109 --> 00:18:23,690
the Bible.

514
00:18:24,789 --> 00:18:26,549
Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. And I hope that

515
00:18:27,375 --> 00:18:29,375
you know, like, even as we were writing

516
00:18:29,375 --> 00:18:30,494
Live It Out for this week, it was

517
00:18:30,494 --> 00:18:32,335
like, well, how much of Exodus do we

518
00:18:32,335 --> 00:18:34,494
read? Because you could go it's actually I

519
00:18:34,494 --> 00:18:37,134
mean, hopefully people will I'm hoping that people

520
00:18:37,134 --> 00:18:40,174
either remember some from when we were in

521
00:18:40,174 --> 00:18:42,869
Exodus, whenever that was, Yeah. Or that just

522
00:18:42,869 --> 00:18:43,369
there

523
00:18:44,230 --> 00:18:45,350
you know, like, for me, it was like,

524
00:18:45,350 --> 00:18:47,029
oh, I gotta go back and read a

525
00:18:47,029 --> 00:18:49,990
little bit further back in in this leading

526
00:18:49,990 --> 00:18:50,970
up to this point,

527
00:18:51,830 --> 00:18:53,910
because it really is you're right. It's this

528
00:18:53,910 --> 00:18:54,410
whole

529
00:18:56,954 --> 00:18:57,355
Jesus

530
00:18:57,755 --> 00:19:00,234
God isn't just getting the the Israelites out

531
00:19:00,234 --> 00:19:01,934
of Egypt just so they

532
00:19:02,234 --> 00:19:04,315
don't have to be slaves anymore. Mhmm. He

533
00:19:04,315 --> 00:19:06,394
wants them to live in his presence. And

534
00:19:06,554 --> 00:19:09,615
Yeah. That's Yeah. What he's been working at.

535
00:19:09,820 --> 00:19:12,380
And it's amazing, like right before the Exodus

536
00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:13,440
33 passage,

537
00:19:14,059 --> 00:19:15,759
God makes a covenant with them.

538
00:19:16,220 --> 00:19:18,400
And the people are crying out, they're like,

539
00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:21,119
we're all in. He's like, I'm moving in.

540
00:19:21,180 --> 00:19:22,875
And he's like, you're gonna make

541
00:19:23,355 --> 00:19:25,515
a dwell I you're gonna make a dwelling,

542
00:19:25,515 --> 00:19:28,315
a tent that's that's mobile, and I'm gonna

543
00:19:28,315 --> 00:19:30,315
give you the instructions for this. I'm gonna

544
00:19:30,315 --> 00:19:31,835
be your god, and you're gonna be my

545
00:19:31,835 --> 00:19:34,654
people. And they're it's almost like they cheer.

546
00:19:34,795 --> 00:19:37,450
They're like, Yeah! Let's do it! We're in!

547
00:19:37,450 --> 00:19:39,529
Yeah, they do. That's what they're doing. And

548
00:19:39,529 --> 00:19:40,029
then

549
00:19:40,730 --> 00:19:42,670
Moses goes up the mountain,

550
00:19:43,369 --> 00:19:45,049
and he's on top of the mountain, and

551
00:19:45,049 --> 00:19:47,450
it talks about that smoke and fire on

552
00:19:47,450 --> 00:19:48,429
the top of the mountain.

553
00:19:48,970 --> 00:19:50,829
So, the people can see this,

554
00:19:51,744 --> 00:19:54,384
and then they're like, Well, Moses is probably

555
00:19:54,384 --> 00:19:54,884
dead,

556
00:19:55,505 --> 00:19:57,044
so let's build a calf.

557
00:19:57,825 --> 00:19:59,285
So, I mean, they went from

558
00:19:59,664 --> 00:20:01,184
in a very I mean, how long were

559
00:20:01,184 --> 00:20:03,599
they at Sinai? A year, I think, overall.

560
00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:05,700
So, we don't know how long a gap

561
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,059
they made this covenant to. Yeah. Like,

562
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:11,859
well, Moses is probably dead,

563
00:20:12,559 --> 00:20:14,880
but not that long, and God's presence is

564
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:15,940
still pretty visible.

565
00:20:16,625 --> 00:20:18,785
And they're like, hey, let's build a calf

566
00:20:18,785 --> 00:20:21,585
because he's gone. It reminds me. I mean,

567
00:20:21,585 --> 00:20:23,984
like, we're how much I am, we are

568
00:20:23,984 --> 00:20:25,744
like the Israelites. You know, just a few

569
00:20:25,744 --> 00:20:27,345
weeks ago at Quiet Waters when we were

570
00:20:27,345 --> 00:20:29,684
talking about, that theme kinda came up of

571
00:20:30,519 --> 00:20:32,200
saying, oh, I I, you know, I wanna

572
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:32,700
I

573
00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:34,920
wanna go the way of Jesus, but I

574
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,400
also wanna keep one foot Yeah. On my

575
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,799
own path. Kind of this split kingdom thing.

576
00:20:39,799 --> 00:20:41,740
Yeah. One foot in each camp. And

577
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,294
that's like, Yeah. It's just how easy it

578
00:20:45,294 --> 00:20:47,075
is to be like Israel and go,

579
00:20:47,375 --> 00:20:49,694
yes. God's way is the best. I'm in.

580
00:20:49,694 --> 00:20:51,375
I wanna go his way. I wanna follow

581
00:20:51,375 --> 00:20:54,255
him. Well, but in this particular situation, I

582
00:20:54,255 --> 00:20:55,934
need to just Yeah. I need to cover

583
00:20:55,934 --> 00:20:56,894
things with a little more But a calf

584
00:20:56,894 --> 00:20:58,470
is pretty cool too. Right. Just to make

585
00:20:58,470 --> 00:21:00,390
sure my bases are covered. Well, and it's

586
00:21:00,390 --> 00:21:02,309
sometimes easy to look at something like that

587
00:21:02,309 --> 00:21:04,789
and go, man, those Israelites are so dumb.

588
00:21:04,789 --> 00:21:05,849
I would never

589
00:21:06,230 --> 00:21:07,990
like, if I was in that situation, I

590
00:21:07,990 --> 00:21:08,470
would just

591
00:21:09,269 --> 00:21:10,154
and it's like,

592
00:21:10,474 --> 00:21:12,955
no. I mean, we have the Holy Spirit

593
00:21:12,955 --> 00:21:15,434
in us, which is actually better than God

594
00:21:15,434 --> 00:21:16,894
on top of a mountain. Yeah.

595
00:21:18,234 --> 00:21:20,234
And, how often do we do that? Like,

596
00:21:20,234 --> 00:21:22,730
I'm in. Yeah. I'm in. Oh, but that's

597
00:21:22,730 --> 00:21:24,809
pretty shiny and cool, and I'm gonna go

598
00:21:24,809 --> 00:21:26,570
after that too. Is that part of that

599
00:21:26,570 --> 00:21:28,430
idea you think of

600
00:21:29,210 --> 00:21:31,549
of rest? Is that like, okay,

601
00:21:31,930 --> 00:21:32,750
if I

602
00:21:33,450 --> 00:21:35,930
will just believe that God is present like

603
00:21:35,930 --> 00:21:38,105
he says he is, then I don't have

604
00:21:38,105 --> 00:21:38,605
to

605
00:21:39,544 --> 00:21:40,744
Yeah. You know, I mean, I think there

606
00:21:40,744 --> 00:21:42,044
was some panic in

607
00:21:42,424 --> 00:21:44,744
making that golden calf, you know? Like, oh,

608
00:21:44,744 --> 00:21:47,464
he's he's not here. Moses isn't here. We're

609
00:21:47,464 --> 00:21:49,304
in trouble. We gotta figure something out. We

610
00:21:49,304 --> 00:21:50,204
gotta have something.

611
00:21:50,950 --> 00:21:51,690
Yeah. But

612
00:21:52,230 --> 00:21:52,730
Yeah.

613
00:21:53,029 --> 00:21:53,769
I think

614
00:21:54,070 --> 00:21:56,150
yeah. In particular, I mean, the golden calf

615
00:21:56,150 --> 00:21:57,690
one is is interesting because

616
00:21:58,150 --> 00:21:58,470
it's,

617
00:21:59,990 --> 00:22:02,150
here's your god. Like like, we know we're

618
00:22:02,150 --> 00:22:04,444
following a god, and all the gods have

619
00:22:04,744 --> 00:22:05,964
a a physical representation.

620
00:22:06,505 --> 00:22:09,144
All the gods that the children of Israel

621
00:22:09,144 --> 00:22:10,904
had known up to that point in their

622
00:22:10,904 --> 00:22:11,404
world,

623
00:22:12,424 --> 00:22:13,164
would have been

624
00:22:13,625 --> 00:22:15,865
a physical representation. I mean, they just came

625
00:22:15,865 --> 00:22:17,325
from Egypt that had

626
00:22:17,740 --> 00:22:20,380
a boatload of them. Yeah. Yeah. And so,

627
00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:22,059
I think for the big thing, I think

628
00:22:22,059 --> 00:22:24,460
for the majority of us, we were raised

629
00:22:24,460 --> 00:22:25,119
to believe

630
00:22:25,740 --> 00:22:26,400
that there's

631
00:22:26,779 --> 00:22:29,679
one God, which is true. That's a fact.

632
00:22:30,065 --> 00:22:32,065
But then the idea that there would be

633
00:22:32,065 --> 00:22:33,904
other the other gods are all fake and

634
00:22:33,904 --> 00:22:35,444
false. True. Factual.

635
00:22:35,904 --> 00:22:36,404
But

636
00:22:37,664 --> 00:22:38,244
but probably

637
00:22:39,345 --> 00:22:41,744
not factual in the way we're communicating. We

638
00:22:41,744 --> 00:22:42,805
really don't understand

639
00:22:43,345 --> 00:22:46,330
that that the children of Israel were surrounded

640
00:22:46,330 --> 00:22:47,950
by a group of people who

641
00:22:48,330 --> 00:22:50,890
they never thought that the representation of the

642
00:22:50,890 --> 00:22:52,190
god was the god.

643
00:22:52,570 --> 00:22:55,289
Like, that I grossly misunderstood that. Right? Like

644
00:22:55,450 --> 00:22:56,509
It's an inhabitation

645
00:22:57,289 --> 00:22:59,894
place. Yeah. Like, I make the thing, and

646
00:22:59,894 --> 00:23:01,815
then it's a it's a representation of the

647
00:23:01,815 --> 00:23:03,914
thing in my life, and it becomes inhabited.

648
00:23:04,134 --> 00:23:05,894
But the god isn't it, and it doesn't

649
00:23:05,894 --> 00:23:08,615
live there. And to understand that they knew

650
00:23:08,615 --> 00:23:10,795
that those gods were spiritual beings,

651
00:23:11,174 --> 00:23:13,195
and they just gave them different different

652
00:23:14,809 --> 00:23:16,570
acknowledgment than we we do. And and all

653
00:23:16,570 --> 00:23:17,930
of a sudden when you grasp that, you're

654
00:23:17,930 --> 00:23:20,569
like, the golden calf isn't as crazy as

655
00:23:20,569 --> 00:23:21,230
it seems

656
00:23:21,609 --> 00:23:22,109
because

657
00:23:22,410 --> 00:23:24,730
here's the physical representation of your god. Of

658
00:23:24,730 --> 00:23:26,569
course, you would do that. Here it is.

659
00:23:26,569 --> 00:23:28,009
And it's interesting. I threw it in the

660
00:23:28,009 --> 00:23:29,390
fire. Out came this calf.

661
00:23:29,695 --> 00:23:32,095
And and to realize that we've done something

662
00:23:32,095 --> 00:23:34,994
now that has has broken the relational

663
00:23:35,295 --> 00:23:35,795
agreement.

664
00:23:36,494 --> 00:23:38,835
And the other thing is is we think,

665
00:23:39,295 --> 00:23:39,795
like,

666
00:23:40,734 --> 00:23:43,215
this well, now they need the sacrificial system,

667
00:23:43,215 --> 00:23:45,670
and they just keep messing it up. And

668
00:23:45,670 --> 00:23:47,190
so how do we see that at the

669
00:23:47,190 --> 00:23:49,910
middle of God's story, it's all been about

670
00:23:49,910 --> 00:23:52,009
them, what you said this weekend, Dave,

671
00:23:52,390 --> 00:23:52,890
seeking

672
00:23:53,589 --> 00:23:56,309
God's presence. And then at the very middle

673
00:23:56,309 --> 00:23:57,990
of it, you said that the Mount Sinai

674
00:23:57,990 --> 00:23:59,910
is a year, and that's called the book

675
00:23:59,910 --> 00:24:02,664
of Leviticus. Mhmm. It's that year

676
00:24:03,205 --> 00:24:05,765
where at the center of that book is

677
00:24:05,765 --> 00:24:06,904
the day of atonement,

678
00:24:07,525 --> 00:24:09,384
which is all about maintaining

679
00:24:09,845 --> 00:24:12,105
God's presence at the center of God's community.

680
00:24:12,325 --> 00:24:14,170
Mhmm. And when you get that, like, we

681
00:24:14,170 --> 00:24:16,490
were told Leviticus is irrelevant. And this year,

682
00:24:16,490 --> 00:24:18,190
we, you know, we went through that

683
00:24:22,570 --> 00:24:24,670
last a year ago, over a year ago,

684
00:24:25,529 --> 00:24:27,930
that it's always been about maintaining God's presence

685
00:24:27,930 --> 00:24:29,309
in the middle of his people.

686
00:24:29,804 --> 00:24:32,125
And that hasn't changed. And when you get

687
00:24:32,125 --> 00:24:32,625
to

688
00:24:33,085 --> 00:24:33,585
Galatians,

689
00:24:34,684 --> 00:24:36,845
Paul actually ties it in there, and we

690
00:24:36,845 --> 00:24:38,144
studied that too.

691
00:24:39,004 --> 00:24:41,004
Like, at the end of the day, Christ

692
00:24:41,004 --> 00:24:41,744
has come.

693
00:24:43,829 --> 00:24:46,950
It says in chapter three, Christ redeemed us

694
00:24:46,950 --> 00:24:48,549
from the curse of the law by becoming

695
00:24:48,549 --> 00:24:50,470
a curse for us. For it is written,

696
00:24:50,470 --> 00:24:52,069
cursed is everyone who is hanged on a

697
00:24:52,069 --> 00:24:52,569
tree,

698
00:24:52,869 --> 00:24:54,869
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of

699
00:24:54,869 --> 00:24:55,369
Abraham

700
00:24:55,914 --> 00:24:57,914
might come to the nations. Mhmm. And I

701
00:24:57,914 --> 00:24:59,195
would encourage you, every time you see the

702
00:24:59,195 --> 00:25:01,375
word Gentiles in your New Testament, say nations.

703
00:25:01,835 --> 00:25:03,454
So that we might receive

704
00:25:04,154 --> 00:25:05,695
the promised spirit

705
00:25:06,075 --> 00:25:06,815
through faith.

706
00:25:07,275 --> 00:25:08,815
That it's always been about

707
00:25:09,319 --> 00:25:11,660
that we are the holy dwelling of God.

708
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,019
And Christmas is an incredible

709
00:25:16,039 --> 00:25:18,679
reminder as we celebrate the first coming of

710
00:25:18,679 --> 00:25:20,859
Christ and the second coming of Christ,

711
00:25:21,365 --> 00:25:23,365
that is a great reminder that it's always

712
00:25:23,365 --> 00:25:26,164
been about us living aware of the presence

713
00:25:26,164 --> 00:25:27,625
of God. So

714
00:25:28,085 --> 00:25:29,365
it it doesn't matter if we're in an

715
00:25:29,365 --> 00:25:31,525
Old Testament story or in a New Testament

716
00:25:31,525 --> 00:25:32,025
story.

717
00:25:32,404 --> 00:25:34,244
Like, what what is it that we're learning

718
00:25:34,244 --> 00:25:36,539
about being people who are living in in

719
00:25:36,539 --> 00:25:37,679
the presence of God?

720
00:25:38,059 --> 00:25:40,140
So this week, as as we're working our

721
00:25:40,140 --> 00:25:42,700
way through Live It Out, we're we're reminding

722
00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:43,200
people,

723
00:25:43,660 --> 00:25:45,339
what does that look like? What helps you

724
00:25:45,339 --> 00:25:48,299
remember what that Jesus is with you at

725
00:25:48,299 --> 00:25:50,400
home, at school, at work, with friends?

726
00:25:51,095 --> 00:25:52,934
And what are some of the things that

727
00:25:52,934 --> 00:25:54,295
that have worked for you? What are some

728
00:25:54,295 --> 00:25:55,255
of the things in the past that you

729
00:25:55,255 --> 00:25:56,934
would say, hey, here are some things that

730
00:25:56,934 --> 00:25:58,455
have worked this weekend. It's like, okay, what's

731
00:25:58,455 --> 00:26:00,535
a tangible reminder? And you gave one. But

732
00:26:00,535 --> 00:26:02,315
what are some things that you would say,

733
00:26:02,455 --> 00:26:04,455
here are some practices in my life that

734
00:26:04,455 --> 00:26:07,089
have helped me to live with great intentionality,

735
00:26:07,549 --> 00:26:08,049
aware

736
00:26:08,829 --> 00:26:11,169
that god is present with me. And then

737
00:26:11,230 --> 00:26:13,009
and then we'll come back and we'll ask,

738
00:26:13,710 --> 00:26:15,710
okay, and what happens when I lose that

739
00:26:15,710 --> 00:26:16,210
awareness?

740
00:26:19,835 --> 00:26:22,234
Do live it out every day. Yeah. There

741
00:26:22,234 --> 00:26:24,174
you go. That's what I know. That's almost

742
00:26:24,315 --> 00:26:26,714
a good start. Podcast calling. Today. Okay. What

743
00:26:26,714 --> 00:26:28,634
is that one? But what are some okay.

744
00:26:28,634 --> 00:26:30,394
There's one, but that gets us started. Starting

745
00:26:30,394 --> 00:26:31,914
the day with something as good. It is

746
00:26:31,914 --> 00:26:34,634
hard. It you know, it's that anybody's read

747
00:26:34,634 --> 00:26:35,130
that,

748
00:26:36,410 --> 00:26:38,650
brother Lawrence practicing the presence of God. It

749
00:26:38,650 --> 00:26:41,049
is sort of that, like, I I do

750
00:26:41,049 --> 00:26:43,849
struggle with there are times when it I

751
00:26:43,849 --> 00:26:45,869
just seem to be better at being aware.

752
00:26:46,170 --> 00:26:48,329
God is here. We're doing this together. And

753
00:26:48,329 --> 00:26:50,009
by doing this, I mean just everything in

754
00:26:50,009 --> 00:26:50,414
life.

755
00:26:50,894 --> 00:26:53,215
And other times where it gets easier for

756
00:26:53,215 --> 00:26:54,035
me to,

757
00:26:55,934 --> 00:26:58,674
skip through whole chunks of my day without,

758
00:27:01,215 --> 00:27:03,075
yeah, without without that awareness.

759
00:27:03,820 --> 00:27:04,320
And

760
00:27:06,859 --> 00:27:08,940
so I I I feel like maybe I

761
00:27:08,940 --> 00:27:10,779
I mentioned the same things frequently, but I

762
00:27:10,779 --> 00:27:12,460
can't remember what's on the podcast and what's

763
00:27:12,619 --> 00:27:13,900
you know, we talk about this, Dave, or

764
00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:15,599
what's on in a hallway conversation.

765
00:27:16,045 --> 00:27:17,805
But for me, something that has always been

766
00:27:17,805 --> 00:27:19,744
really, really helpful is

767
00:27:20,285 --> 00:27:22,305
my dorky, old

768
00:27:24,445 --> 00:27:26,445
Bible memory app. People are like, what's their

769
00:27:26,445 --> 00:27:28,285
Bible memory app? It's it's a tear oh,

770
00:27:28,285 --> 00:27:29,799
I don't know. It's not a terrible app,

771
00:27:29,799 --> 00:27:31,880
but it's it is not cutting edge. It

772
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,200
does not look good. It's from the it's

773
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,119
old, you know, as much as an iPhone

774
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:37,180
app can be old.

775
00:27:37,799 --> 00:27:39,240
On your phone, they could be pretty old,

776
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:39,980
though, dude.

777
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:42,380
It's like

778
00:27:43,244 --> 00:27:43,325
a

779
00:27:44,204 --> 00:27:46,780
The prehistoric version of iPhone three. I thought

780
00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:48,365
somebody said what? Yesterday. Is that an iPhone

781
00:27:48,365 --> 00:27:50,605
five? Somebody in the office said that. Come

782
00:27:50,605 --> 00:27:51,105
on.

783
00:27:51,884 --> 00:27:53,724
No. What is it actually? Did you actually

784
00:27:53,724 --> 00:27:56,464
answer that question? This is an iPhone 13

785
00:27:56,605 --> 00:27:59,430
Mini. It's just small. Oh. But 13 is

786
00:27:59,430 --> 00:28:00,570
only like four

787
00:28:01,190 --> 00:28:04,329
generations back. They're on 17 homes. Yep.

788
00:28:05,990 --> 00:28:08,470
13 is almost iPhone pre historic. When did

789
00:28:08,470 --> 00:28:10,089
they stop updating them?

790
00:28:10,470 --> 00:28:11,769
I don't know. I don't know.

791
00:28:12,070 --> 00:28:13,049
Yeah. Yeah.

792
00:28:13,694 --> 00:28:15,375
But don't worry. That app will still work.

793
00:28:15,375 --> 00:28:15,875
Yeah.

794
00:28:18,095 --> 00:28:19,554
No wonder it looks like trash.

795
00:28:20,255 --> 00:28:22,255
Right. Yeah. That's true. It is 20 10

796
00:28:22,255 --> 00:28:24,255
years old or whatever, 15 years old. But

797
00:28:24,255 --> 00:28:24,575
it's

798
00:28:25,294 --> 00:28:27,154
that is a thing that helps me.

799
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,640
I'm like, it feels like cheating to go,

800
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,519
well, I'm just memorizing a Bible verse, so,

801
00:28:32,519 --> 00:28:33,919
of course, that's gonna make you think of

802
00:28:33,919 --> 00:28:35,359
God. I don't know. I that's what I

803
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,839
need. Yeah. Is The simplicity of it. Yeah.

804
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:39,679
Yeah. Like, I just need something to force

805
00:28:39,679 --> 00:28:40,179
me.

806
00:28:40,765 --> 00:28:42,044
Yeah. It's not even like a

807
00:28:43,085 --> 00:28:44,525
I'm sorry to say, it's not even like

808
00:28:44,525 --> 00:28:46,845
a attitude of my heart. Like, I just

809
00:28:46,845 --> 00:28:49,085
wanna be aware of god's presence. It's like,

810
00:28:49,085 --> 00:28:49,904
oh, I wanna

811
00:28:50,444 --> 00:28:51,424
see if I can

812
00:28:51,724 --> 00:28:53,105
get this one right.

813
00:28:53,804 --> 00:28:56,069
And then that helps that that gets me

814
00:28:56,069 --> 00:28:58,309
to, oh, I wanna be aware of God's

815
00:28:58,309 --> 00:29:00,730
presence. You know? Yeah. I wish I didn't

816
00:29:01,349 --> 00:29:04,069
need the crutch, but I do. Yeah. Yeah.

817
00:29:04,069 --> 00:29:05,849
I think a lot of times it's like,

818
00:29:07,349 --> 00:29:09,450
some things begin as a box check.

819
00:29:09,835 --> 00:29:11,855
Yeah. You know what I mean? Of, like,

820
00:29:11,914 --> 00:29:14,235
I memorize this first or I did my

821
00:29:14,235 --> 00:29:15,914
devotional. I did live it out, and you'd

822
00:29:15,914 --> 00:29:16,975
box check it.

823
00:29:17,595 --> 00:29:19,914
But I think God is gracious enough that

824
00:29:19,914 --> 00:29:22,475
he takes the box checks and actually grows

825
00:29:22,475 --> 00:29:24,950
desire within us. And that's not to say

826
00:29:24,950 --> 00:29:27,430
that I'm with you, Tim. It's not all

827
00:29:27,430 --> 00:29:29,509
the time that I'm just going. I'm not

828
00:29:29,509 --> 00:29:32,390
Brother Lawrence going. I'm practicing the presence of

829
00:29:32,390 --> 00:29:35,109
Jesus as I wash dishes and stuff like

830
00:29:35,109 --> 00:29:35,609
that.

831
00:29:37,154 --> 00:29:38,535
But, I think

832
00:29:38,994 --> 00:29:40,615
I'm with you. I

833
00:29:41,234 --> 00:29:44,275
need tangible things because, yeah, I'll get up

834
00:29:44,275 --> 00:29:46,055
and spend time in the Word

835
00:29:46,434 --> 00:29:47,955
and then it's almost like I just go

836
00:29:47,955 --> 00:29:49,414
about my day and,

837
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:50,535
you know,

838
00:29:52,509 --> 00:29:54,670
just do what I wanna do in some

839
00:29:54,670 --> 00:29:55,490
ways. And,

840
00:29:57,470 --> 00:30:00,029
so I need tangible reminders of going, oh,

841
00:30:00,029 --> 00:30:00,529
yeah.

842
00:30:00,990 --> 00:30:03,490
I'm in this. We're in this together. And,

843
00:30:05,025 --> 00:30:07,345
yeah. I wish I was further along. Don't.

844
00:30:07,345 --> 00:30:09,664
Maybe I am. But Me too. Yeah. Me

845
00:30:09,664 --> 00:30:11,585
too. I think for me too, things like,

846
00:30:11,585 --> 00:30:13,825
it's okay for things to come in ebb

847
00:30:13,825 --> 00:30:14,485
and flow

848
00:30:14,865 --> 00:30:16,485
and for me to be aware

849
00:30:16,865 --> 00:30:18,884
of God's presence right now.

850
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,039
I I am a music person, although I'm

851
00:30:22,039 --> 00:30:22,779
not exactly,

852
00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:26,859
You're a bass player. I'm a yeah. Musician.

853
00:30:26,919 --> 00:30:29,240
In the worship band. I am so far

854
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,319
from a musician, but I love music. Music.

855
00:30:31,319 --> 00:30:33,654
I do love music. And I've learned the

856
00:30:33,654 --> 00:30:36,934
rudimentary skills of playing worship bass, which is

857
00:30:36,934 --> 00:30:38,234
far from playing the bass.

858
00:30:38,535 --> 00:30:39,914
Anyway, all that to say,

859
00:30:41,255 --> 00:30:42,855
for right now, it's been a little bit,

860
00:30:42,855 --> 00:30:44,855
and I've shared it before, that for it's

861
00:30:44,855 --> 00:30:47,430
been worship music for me because because the

862
00:30:47,509 --> 00:30:49,830
truth and people would say, well, of course,

863
00:30:49,830 --> 00:30:51,430
it is. You're a pastor. Of course, that's

864
00:30:51,509 --> 00:30:53,269
you know. And and the answer is no.

865
00:30:53,269 --> 00:30:55,430
It's not. I've gone through seasons in my

866
00:30:55,430 --> 00:30:57,590
life where there's been times where it has

867
00:30:57,590 --> 00:30:59,590
been and it hasn't been. And the the

868
00:30:59,590 --> 00:31:01,910
brutal truth is I love country music. That's

869
00:31:01,910 --> 00:31:03,615
what I love. You know? And

870
00:31:03,975 --> 00:31:04,835
God's music.

871
00:31:05,215 --> 00:31:07,955
Yeah. So yeah. Is that is that yeah.

872
00:31:08,255 --> 00:31:10,755
Yeah. Exactly. Just kidding. Yeah. Just a prank.

873
00:31:10,815 --> 00:31:13,455
Yeah. No. Really. I I and and it's

874
00:31:13,455 --> 00:31:13,955
like,

875
00:31:14,414 --> 00:31:15,775
I hope that doesn't make me a bad

876
00:31:15,775 --> 00:31:17,855
person. Right? I'd that's what I if I'm

877
00:31:17,855 --> 00:31:19,609
gonna just choose to listen to

878
00:31:20,069 --> 00:31:22,710
something. And so listening to worship music as

879
00:31:22,710 --> 00:31:23,369
a discipline,

880
00:31:23,670 --> 00:31:24,890
not just as background,

881
00:31:25,349 --> 00:31:27,829
has been really has been really helpful for

882
00:31:27,829 --> 00:31:29,910
me during this season of my life to

883
00:31:29,910 --> 00:31:30,809
try and remember,

884
00:31:31,875 --> 00:31:33,715
to live in the presence of of God.

885
00:31:33,715 --> 00:31:35,015
And it does matter

886
00:31:35,315 --> 00:31:37,654
because then that brings the second question is,

887
00:31:37,795 --> 00:31:39,634
what what's the tendency in your life and

888
00:31:39,634 --> 00:31:41,315
I know this is gonna be cliche, but

889
00:31:41,315 --> 00:31:42,695
if you could drive it to concrete,

890
00:31:43,075 --> 00:31:45,234
what's the tendency what's the thing that you

891
00:31:45,234 --> 00:31:46,615
would notice in your life

892
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:48,619
when you start to become

893
00:31:49,559 --> 00:31:52,119
unaware? Like, what's your go to, like, oh,

894
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:53,180
okay. I'm unaware.

895
00:31:53,799 --> 00:31:55,240
Maybe this isn't I don't know it. Maybe

896
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,000
this isn't concrete enough. But when you asked

897
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,059
that, I pulled up,

898
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,720
my you know, just for people listening, we

899
00:32:03,744 --> 00:32:03,825
a

900
00:32:04,545 --> 00:32:05,904
and staff, we have a day that we

901
00:32:05,904 --> 00:32:07,365
kind of use to

902
00:32:07,664 --> 00:32:09,505
look back and look forward and make sure

903
00:32:09,505 --> 00:32:10,625
we're aligned with,

904
00:32:11,025 --> 00:32:13,025
the work that we're doing. And and one

905
00:32:13,025 --> 00:32:14,144
of the things we do on that day

906
00:32:14,144 --> 00:32:14,945
is fill out a little

907
00:32:17,460 --> 00:32:18,980
I mean, we call it a report. Yeah.

908
00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:21,059
It's a report. Yeah. But the first question

909
00:32:21,059 --> 00:32:23,619
on there is Update. Yeah. Maybe that's a

910
00:32:23,619 --> 00:32:24,679
good word. Yeah. Yeah.

911
00:32:25,460 --> 00:32:27,059
But the first question on there is, what

912
00:32:27,059 --> 00:32:29,079
is God currently teaching you? And,

913
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:32,945
I was I felt like I've been experiencing

914
00:32:32,945 --> 00:32:34,945
just what you're describing, like, just not being

915
00:32:34,945 --> 00:32:37,025
aware. So this is maybe not as concrete

916
00:32:37,025 --> 00:32:38,305
as you're asking Dave, but this is what

917
00:32:38,305 --> 00:32:40,384
I wrote. I said, trying to remember to

918
00:32:40,384 --> 00:32:42,005
listen for the Spirit's promptings

919
00:32:42,785 --> 00:32:43,765
moment to moment.

920
00:32:44,119 --> 00:32:45,799
It's easy for me to go into my

921
00:32:45,799 --> 00:32:46,539
own little,

922
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,799
in quotes, me world internally and pay no

923
00:32:49,799 --> 00:32:51,880
attention to how God might wanna guide me.

924
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,320
And that's what I notice is, like, I

925
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:53,820
just

926
00:32:54,279 --> 00:32:55,100
I just

927
00:32:55,559 --> 00:32:56,840
a whole day or big chunks of the

928
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:58,119
day can go by, and I'm just in

929
00:32:58,119 --> 00:32:58,619
in

930
00:32:59,424 --> 00:33:01,525
internally in my brain. I'm just in

931
00:33:03,105 --> 00:33:04,945
in it's like it's just me there, you

932
00:33:04,945 --> 00:33:05,605
know? Yeah.

933
00:33:06,384 --> 00:33:07,744
I don't know how else to describe it

934
00:33:07,744 --> 00:33:09,424
other than that. But I I notice when

935
00:33:09,424 --> 00:33:12,005
that happens that, like, I just haven't wondered,

936
00:33:13,279 --> 00:33:14,559
what does God want me to do? Where

937
00:33:14,559 --> 00:33:16,399
is he Yeah. What has he been up

938
00:33:16,399 --> 00:33:17,759
to? Yeah. What does he want in this

939
00:33:17,759 --> 00:33:19,759
moment for me? I'm just like, I've just

940
00:33:19,759 --> 00:33:21,599
been doing my thing all day or for

941
00:33:21,599 --> 00:33:24,019
days or for weeks. Yeah. That's not good.

942
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:24,880
I think,

943
00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:27,779
the Bible Project guys talk about,

944
00:33:29,065 --> 00:33:31,625
like, the presence of God brings order, and,

945
00:33:31,625 --> 00:33:33,865
like, when there's a removal of God's presence,

946
00:33:33,865 --> 00:33:36,265
it brings chaos. And and they have a

947
00:33:36,265 --> 00:33:36,765
whole

948
00:33:37,384 --> 00:33:40,105
series, the chaos dragon and all this stuff,

949
00:33:40,105 --> 00:33:41,485
and which is really good.

950
00:33:41,839 --> 00:33:43,680
But I think there is, like, a like,

951
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,940
a personal reality that I experience

952
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:46,900
when

953
00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:50,579
when I when I practice and live intentionally

954
00:33:50,799 --> 00:33:52,559
in the very presence of God. Like, in

955
00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:54,180
in Exodus 33,

956
00:33:54,704 --> 00:33:57,265
God's like, Moses intercedes on behalf of the

957
00:33:57,265 --> 00:33:58,164
people of Israel,

958
00:33:58,704 --> 00:33:59,444
and God,

959
00:34:00,464 --> 00:34:02,865
like, kinda relents and he goes, Moses, I'll

960
00:34:02,865 --> 00:34:04,625
go with you, and it's singular. He goes,

961
00:34:04,625 --> 00:34:05,984
I'll go with you and I'll give you

962
00:34:05,984 --> 00:34:08,224
rest. And Moses once again intercedes and goes,

963
00:34:08,224 --> 00:34:09,585
no. It's an us saying God. And he's

964
00:34:09,585 --> 00:34:10,440
like, alright. I'll go.

965
00:34:12,599 --> 00:34:15,420
But that that rest, like, when I practice

966
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,819
and live intentionally in those spaces,

967
00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,400
there's less chaos in my mind and my

968
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:23,894
heart. Mhmm. But when I think that I've

969
00:34:23,894 --> 00:34:26,135
got it figured out, or or maybe even

970
00:34:26,135 --> 00:34:27,655
worse, not even that I have it figured

971
00:34:27,655 --> 00:34:29,655
out, but I'm the one that has to

972
00:34:29,655 --> 00:34:30,635
figure it out,

973
00:34:31,815 --> 00:34:34,614
it's easy for me to have that my

974
00:34:34,614 --> 00:34:37,079
mind just starts to kinda swirl, and my

975
00:34:37,079 --> 00:34:39,800
heart becomes anxious. And, like, there's just things.

976
00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:41,099
And so that

977
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,640
that rest that God talks about, he's like,

978
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,019
yeah, I'm gonna give you rest.

979
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,079
That's what I want, but I don't get

980
00:34:47,079 --> 00:34:49,079
it. And so, I mean, that can even

981
00:34:49,079 --> 00:34:51,704
play itself out, and I'm not sleeping. I'm

982
00:34:51,704 --> 00:34:53,224
waking up at two or three in the

983
00:34:53,224 --> 00:34:55,704
morning or I'm whatever because my mind just

984
00:34:55,704 --> 00:34:56,605
won't shut down.

985
00:34:56,984 --> 00:34:58,664
And it's in those moments that I find

986
00:34:58,664 --> 00:34:59,644
myself going,

987
00:35:00,184 --> 00:35:01,484
I've been trying to do

988
00:35:01,864 --> 00:35:03,224
I've been trying to do this on my

989
00:35:03,224 --> 00:35:05,190
own. I've been trying to do it like

990
00:35:05,269 --> 00:35:07,269
I'm smart enough to figure it out. I'm

991
00:35:07,269 --> 00:35:08,969
I'm capable enough or whatever.

992
00:35:09,589 --> 00:35:11,510
When it's like I can't find my wallet

993
00:35:11,510 --> 00:35:13,510
and maybe maybe I should just pause and

994
00:35:13,510 --> 00:35:15,269
pray and then I go into my yard

995
00:35:15,269 --> 00:35:16,309
and find it. You know what I mean?

996
00:35:16,309 --> 00:35:17,130
Yeah. So

997
00:35:18,035 --> 00:35:20,275
No. I I can relate to all of

998
00:35:20,275 --> 00:35:22,695
that for sure. That's that's a 100%.

999
00:35:22,994 --> 00:35:25,555
I think for me, it's I definitely can

1000
00:35:25,555 --> 00:35:26,775
notice the indicators

1001
00:35:27,075 --> 00:35:27,575
where

1002
00:35:29,650 --> 00:35:30,309
I get

1003
00:35:30,929 --> 00:35:32,230
irritated and angry

1004
00:35:33,250 --> 00:35:35,409
when I'm not aware. I it's just easy

1005
00:35:35,409 --> 00:35:37,809
for me just to to get irritated and

1006
00:35:37,809 --> 00:35:40,769
angry, and and I'm like, woah, where where

1007
00:35:40,769 --> 00:35:42,614
is that? I thought I thought I was

1008
00:35:42,614 --> 00:35:44,454
addressing that. And it's like, oh, yeah. Just

1009
00:35:44,454 --> 00:35:45,994
forget that Jesus is in

1010
00:35:46,534 --> 00:35:48,295
is at work in you. Yeah. Here we

1011
00:35:48,295 --> 00:35:49,594
go. Yeah. You know?

1012
00:35:50,934 --> 00:35:53,094
Yeah. So I I would say probably my

1013
00:35:53,094 --> 00:35:54,074
family probably

1014
00:35:54,614 --> 00:35:56,074
can probably see that.

1015
00:35:56,420 --> 00:35:58,280
I don't know that we've ever actually had,

1016
00:35:59,780 --> 00:36:01,300
you know, be able to put words to

1017
00:36:01,300 --> 00:36:03,619
that. Mhmm. You know, it's it's like, okay,

1018
00:36:03,619 --> 00:36:04,680
this isn't just

1019
00:36:05,380 --> 00:36:07,719
as the anxiety level is is rising.

1020
00:36:08,340 --> 00:36:11,204
It's not just, oh, you need to try

1021
00:36:11,204 --> 00:36:12,965
harder. It's like, oh, you need to be

1022
00:36:12,965 --> 00:36:15,285
more aware. And I think that's gonna be

1023
00:36:15,765 --> 00:36:17,605
yeah. As we go through this Christmas, that's

1024
00:36:17,605 --> 00:36:19,144
gonna be try and be my,

1025
00:36:19,925 --> 00:36:20,905
spiritual discipline.

1026
00:36:21,285 --> 00:36:23,045
Is okay. It's one thing to talk about,

1027
00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:26,460
celebrating Jesus' presence, but what's it look like

1028
00:36:26,460 --> 00:36:27,680
for me just to be aware

1029
00:36:28,140 --> 00:36:29,360
of that? And

1030
00:36:29,660 --> 00:36:31,739
as I am, I think the people around

1031
00:36:31,739 --> 00:36:32,800
me maybe can

1032
00:36:33,660 --> 00:36:35,599
see that a little bit.

1033
00:36:36,059 --> 00:36:36,559
So,

1034
00:36:37,144 --> 00:36:39,625
as we get ready to head into this

1035
00:36:39,625 --> 00:36:41,565
week and the busyness of Christmas

1036
00:36:42,025 --> 00:36:43,164
is ramping up,

1037
00:36:43,945 --> 00:36:44,684
even as,

1038
00:36:45,144 --> 00:36:47,385
you know, we're still a couple weeks out,

1039
00:36:47,385 --> 00:36:47,885
but

1040
00:36:48,184 --> 00:36:49,405
it ramps up and

1041
00:36:49,889 --> 00:36:51,510
parties are happening and,

1042
00:36:52,130 --> 00:36:54,929
all the the activities between family and friends

1043
00:36:54,929 --> 00:36:57,809
and work and everything starts going. What are

1044
00:36:57,809 --> 00:36:59,489
some things that you would say, hey, as

1045
00:36:59,489 --> 00:37:01,250
you take a look at this week, make

1046
00:37:01,250 --> 00:37:02,630
sure you don't miss

1047
00:37:02,974 --> 00:37:05,295
make sure you don't miss this. Once again,

1048
00:37:05,295 --> 00:37:07,054
it's not like this is what I was

1049
00:37:07,054 --> 00:37:08,434
saying. It's not like just,

1050
00:37:08,735 --> 00:37:10,515
hey. Make sure that this Christmas,

1051
00:37:11,375 --> 00:37:12,675
you, you know,

1052
00:37:13,695 --> 00:37:16,610
keep keep, you know, Jesus is the reason

1053
00:37:16,610 --> 00:37:19,010
for the season. Yeah. Duh. You know, like,

1054
00:37:19,010 --> 00:37:20,130
I think there's a piece of it. It's

1055
00:37:20,130 --> 00:37:22,130
like, yeah, of course. Yeah. But but how

1056
00:37:22,130 --> 00:37:23,670
do we make sure that we're practicing

1057
00:37:24,690 --> 00:37:26,869
the presence of of Christ in us

1058
00:37:27,250 --> 00:37:28,914
in the midst of all that's coming on?

1059
00:37:28,914 --> 00:37:30,594
How do we redeem the time, so to

1060
00:37:30,594 --> 00:37:32,194
speak? And so, is there anything you would

1061
00:37:32,194 --> 00:37:33,474
say, hey, this week, I want to make

1062
00:37:33,474 --> 00:37:35,394
sure that that this is a thing we're

1063
00:37:35,394 --> 00:37:37,074
focusing on, or this is a thing that

1064
00:37:37,074 --> 00:37:39,014
we're we're really paying attention to?

1065
00:37:40,219 --> 00:37:42,079
I think for me, as I think about

1066
00:37:42,219 --> 00:37:44,380
that question in particular, it's it's,

1067
00:37:45,019 --> 00:37:46,619
to go back, Tim, to what you were

1068
00:37:46,619 --> 00:37:49,420
talking a little bit earlier, that quiet waters

1069
00:37:49,420 --> 00:37:51,659
of one foot in one kingdom and one

1070
00:37:51,659 --> 00:37:53,420
foot in God's kingdom, that we like to

1071
00:37:53,420 --> 00:37:54,960
straddle it. And,

1072
00:37:57,764 --> 00:37:59,525
the kingdom of the world is gonna go

1073
00:37:59,525 --> 00:38:00,344
get busier,

1074
00:38:00,724 --> 00:38:02,025
get, I mean,

1075
00:38:02,565 --> 00:38:03,065
faster,

1076
00:38:03,364 --> 00:38:03,864
more,

1077
00:38:05,764 --> 00:38:08,664
all the things. Right? Mhmm. And it's like,

1078
00:38:09,150 --> 00:38:11,650
no. If I can if I can intentionally

1079
00:38:12,510 --> 00:38:13,949
and it and that for me, it's gonna

1080
00:38:13,949 --> 00:38:16,429
take that. It's gonna take intentionally stepping back

1081
00:38:16,429 --> 00:38:18,190
from that and I'm going, woah, I'm getting

1082
00:38:18,190 --> 00:38:20,190
caught up. Yeah. I'm getting caught like, I

1083
00:38:20,190 --> 00:38:22,030
find myself getting busier and busier and busier

1084
00:38:22,030 --> 00:38:24,130
and what I needed the right whatever.

1085
00:38:24,465 --> 00:38:26,164
And it's like, no. Hold on a sec.

1086
00:38:26,625 --> 00:38:28,385
So I think if we can we talk

1087
00:38:28,385 --> 00:38:31,364
about, like, finding something tangible this week. Let

1088
00:38:31,585 --> 00:38:34,005
let the things of the season

1089
00:38:34,625 --> 00:38:36,465
just be tangible. And we've talked about this

1090
00:38:36,465 --> 00:38:36,965
in

1091
00:38:37,344 --> 00:38:39,285
Christmases past before, but

1092
00:38:39,829 --> 00:38:40,809
let the things

1093
00:38:41,349 --> 00:38:42,650
be tangible reminders

1094
00:38:43,510 --> 00:38:44,969
of Jesus as compared

1095
00:38:45,670 --> 00:38:47,690
to the kingdom of the world. And so,

1096
00:38:48,789 --> 00:38:50,809
I take my dogs for walks at night.

1097
00:38:51,764 --> 00:38:53,844
It's it's fun to see the Christmas lights

1098
00:38:53,844 --> 00:38:55,684
as people are starting to put more on

1099
00:38:55,684 --> 00:38:58,005
up and but let those be a tangible

1100
00:38:58,005 --> 00:39:01,284
reminder to be grateful to Mhmm. To Jesus,

1101
00:39:01,284 --> 00:39:02,484
the light of the world, and I know

1102
00:39:02,484 --> 00:39:04,664
we're gonna get there in this series. But

1103
00:39:04,964 --> 00:39:06,984
what are things that we can actually just

1104
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:09,180
leverage

1105
00:39:09,559 --> 00:39:10,460
in this season

1106
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,640
to be reminders of the very presence of

1107
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:14,140
Jesus?

1108
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:15,739
Mhmm.

1109
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,360
Yeah. Yeah. And I think even, like, you

1110
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:18,860
know,

1111
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:20,704
I think there's a bunch of ways you

1112
00:39:20,704 --> 00:39:22,224
can do it. You can stick a Post

1113
00:39:22,224 --> 00:39:23,744
it note on your dashboard. I just think

1114
00:39:23,744 --> 00:39:24,945
about how I get in my car and

1115
00:39:24,945 --> 00:39:27,664
drive every day. Or or but or even,

1116
00:39:27,664 --> 00:39:28,164
like,

1117
00:39:28,864 --> 00:39:29,925
just decide.

1118
00:39:30,545 --> 00:39:32,625
I don't know if people's brains work this

1119
00:39:32,625 --> 00:39:34,440
way, but I think mine does something. Just

1120
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:36,679
decide, like, okay. When I listen to when

1121
00:39:36,679 --> 00:39:39,159
Christmas music comes on, I'm gonna listen for

1122
00:39:39,159 --> 00:39:40,780
that. Just this, you know,

1123
00:39:41,079 --> 00:39:43,719
this Christmas season. I'm gonna list if if

1124
00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:45,719
this idea of Emmanuel, God with us, is

1125
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:47,420
at the core of what Christmas is about,

1126
00:39:47,525 --> 00:39:49,684
then I'm just gonna listen for that in

1127
00:39:49,684 --> 00:39:51,844
all the songs. And some of them will

1128
00:39:51,844 --> 00:39:53,204
be Jingle Bells or,

1129
00:39:53,525 --> 00:39:55,364
you know, it might be a little harder.

1130
00:39:55,364 --> 00:39:57,625
But but the ones that are truly Christmas

1131
00:39:57,684 --> 00:39:58,565
songs Yeah.

1132
00:39:59,125 --> 00:40:00,805
Just to be listening for that because they'll

1133
00:40:00,885 --> 00:40:02,425
you know, sometimes in old fashioned

1134
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:03,860
language,

1135
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,119
hark the herald angels sing, you know, like,

1136
00:40:07,119 --> 00:40:08,660
but listen for, like,

1137
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:10,420
okay. This is

1138
00:40:12,559 --> 00:40:14,480
God is here. Mhmm. And what a gift

1139
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,400
that is, you know? Like, it's It takes

1140
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,559
a mindset though. Yeah. You have to if

1141
00:40:18,559 --> 00:40:19,059
you

1142
00:40:19,574 --> 00:40:22,315
my mind doesn't naturally do that. It's choosing

1143
00:40:22,454 --> 00:40:23,514
Right. To go,

1144
00:40:23,974 --> 00:40:26,135
no. I'm gonna do this. Yeah. I'm gonna

1145
00:40:26,135 --> 00:40:28,215
listen. It's a discipline. Yeah. To think about

1146
00:40:28,215 --> 00:40:29,815
this thing. To be reminded of this thing.

1147
00:40:29,815 --> 00:40:31,255
And I think really for me, what I

1148
00:40:31,255 --> 00:40:32,715
wanna try and do is be,

1149
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,360
you know, in, you know, awe and wonder.

1150
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,280
You know? Yeah. Christmas is supposed to be

1151
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,199
the, you know, magical season of awe and

1152
00:40:41,199 --> 00:40:43,280
wonder. Well, it should be we should feel

1153
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,140
some sense of that when I think about,

1154
00:40:47,199 --> 00:40:48,980
how massive it is that that

1155
00:40:49,795 --> 00:40:51,815
the god of the universe has moved in

1156
00:40:51,954 --> 00:40:53,655
to my life, and he's here.

1157
00:40:54,275 --> 00:40:54,775
And

1158
00:40:55,155 --> 00:40:57,954
I shouldn't just go, yeah. That's cool. You

1159
00:40:57,954 --> 00:40:59,954
know? Like, I I wanted to get Francis

1160
00:40:59,954 --> 00:41:02,855
Chan that. The god of the universe.

1161
00:41:03,155 --> 00:41:06,269
You guys move. You will get this.

1162
00:41:06,570 --> 00:41:08,809
Yeah. Sorry. We Francis stand it. Yeah. He's

1163
00:41:08,890 --> 00:41:10,269
I love it. He's right

1164
00:41:11,130 --> 00:41:11,630
here.

1165
00:41:11,930 --> 00:41:13,930
I love Francis. I do too. I think

1166
00:41:13,930 --> 00:41:14,670
he's incredible.

1167
00:41:15,289 --> 00:41:17,684
Yeah. You too. Yeah. No. I think that's

1168
00:41:17,684 --> 00:41:19,285
that's really good advice. I mean, think for

1169
00:41:19,285 --> 00:41:21,364
me, it's like which is what sounds so

1170
00:41:21,364 --> 00:41:23,045
weird. It's to be able to say, well,

1171
00:41:23,045 --> 00:41:24,724
I'm not really like a Christmas guy. And

1172
00:41:24,724 --> 00:41:25,704
you're like, well,

1173
00:41:26,965 --> 00:41:28,525
how could you not be? You're a follower

1174
00:41:28,525 --> 00:41:30,480
of Christ. How could you not be? But

1175
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:32,239
there's pieces of it. It's like, okay. How

1176
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:34,719
do I how do I take the crazy

1177
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:35,380
of Christmas

1178
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,099
and redeem it? And so I I think

1179
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,059
don't be don't don't wait until

1180
00:41:42,815 --> 00:41:45,454
a week before, a day before to say,

1181
00:41:45,454 --> 00:41:47,215
how do I redeem the the crazy of

1182
00:41:47,215 --> 00:41:49,135
this? To be able to think, okay, not

1183
00:41:49,135 --> 00:41:50,275
just how do I,

1184
00:41:51,135 --> 00:41:52,815
you know, put the Christ back in Christmas

1185
00:41:52,815 --> 00:41:53,954
as I mocked earlier.

1186
00:41:55,135 --> 00:41:57,315
But but how do I actually see

1187
00:41:58,509 --> 00:41:59,889
the the things that we do,

1188
00:42:00,589 --> 00:42:02,509
in order to celebrate Christmas? How do I

1189
00:42:02,509 --> 00:42:04,829
make sure that I'm I'm redeeming those in

1190
00:42:04,829 --> 00:42:07,170
my mind to ensure that they're reminding me

1191
00:42:07,230 --> 00:42:09,309
that Jesus really is with me, that the

1192
00:42:09,309 --> 00:42:11,730
spirit of God is leading me. He's transforming

1193
00:42:11,789 --> 00:42:14,074
me. So in the midst of, you know,

1194
00:42:14,074 --> 00:42:17,514
the the party that's coming up, the the

1195
00:42:17,514 --> 00:42:18,094
the celebration

1196
00:42:18,394 --> 00:42:19,214
family celebration

1197
00:42:19,514 --> 00:42:21,514
that's coming up, how do I redeem those

1198
00:42:21,514 --> 00:42:24,394
things to say, ultimately, this is about the

1199
00:42:24,394 --> 00:42:26,315
the presence of Christ with me? But then

1200
00:42:26,315 --> 00:42:27,675
they flip that and say, well, it's also

1201
00:42:27,675 --> 00:42:29,159
about what what's that look like when I'm

1202
00:42:29,159 --> 00:42:30,839
present with other people? What's it look like

1203
00:42:30,839 --> 00:42:33,579
when when I'm living present in the moment?

1204
00:42:33,639 --> 00:42:35,400
And for me, that that's very difficult. Kinda

1205
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:36,880
like what you said earlier, Tim. I can

1206
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,359
I can check out and live life in

1207
00:42:38,359 --> 00:42:38,920
my head? And,

1208
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:41,579
there's times where that's really helpful,

1209
00:42:41,974 --> 00:42:44,454
and there's times where that's not helpful at

1210
00:42:44,454 --> 00:42:47,494
all. So as we head into this week,

1211
00:42:47,494 --> 00:42:48,934
Boobard, do you have a final word, or

1212
00:42:48,934 --> 00:42:50,135
did you already give it? I think I

1213
00:42:50,135 --> 00:42:51,494
gave it. He gave it. And so I

1214
00:42:51,494 --> 00:42:53,494
think we all left a final word. That's

1215
00:42:53,494 --> 00:42:55,275
the final word. See you.